Snacking tourists rescued from Iceland iceberg

Five American tourists have been rescued from an iceberg in Iceland that broke away from the land as they sat on it with folding chairs and a table, enjoying a picnic. A small rescue boat delicately took each person off the slab of ice on the freezing waters of the Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon.“The ice was solid when they got there, but when they set the table and chairs the wind changed and the next minute they were blown some 10-15 metres into the lagoon,” a member of the rescue team told NBC News.“The scene was comical – they were sitting on the chairs around a table, on a piece of floating ice. But the iceberg could have cracked or flipped over any minute, throwing them into very deep, almost frozen waters.”Around 600,000 tourists are expected to visit Iceland this year, double the local population, and some find themselves in trouble in the tough environment. Up to 20 serious cases need rescue squad intervention each year.NBC[photo courtesy Visit Iceland]